Warren power outage impacting government, businesses

Usually a popular place to cool off on a hot day, the water fountain at Warren’s City Square park was closed Wednesday because of a power outage. City Hall is open while operating on a generator but the Warren division of the 37th District Court was closed. (Macomb Daily/DAVID DALTON)

DTE Energy said Wednesday it expects electricity to be fully restored in the Warren Civic Center by 2:30 p.m.

A power outage at 7:15 a.m. forced the closure of the 37th District Court and some local businesses. Warren City Hall and the Police Department buildings remain open while running on generators, officials said.

The outage has affected approximately 500 homes and businesses in a one-quarter square mile area from Van Dyke east to Lorraine Avenue, north of 12 Mile Road.

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DTE Energy spokesman Randi Berris said the outage was caused by an underground equipment problem.

Warren Mayor James Fouts said the lights at city hall are flickering, and he has asked municipal employees to keep electricity usage to a minimum. Residents and others with bills to pay or other city business to conduct can still come to City Hall.

“The last thing I want to do is close City Hall. Right now it’s business as usual,” Fouts said.

The morning opening of the courthouse was delayed twice by a couple hours as workers anticipated power would be restored. The building does not have a generator but has battery-powered emergency lights.

Around 10 a.m., Chief Judge John Chmura decided to send most employees home for the day after he was informed that electricity may not be restored until 2 p.m. or later.

“With the heat, there’s no point keeping people around in a hot building when you can’t do anything,” he said.

Judge Matthew Sabaugh and his staff remain at work to conduct arraignments. Instead of the usual arraignment by video link with the Warren Police Department lockup, the judge will formally charge criminal suspects in person at the police station.

Litigants, ticketed drivers and all others who had cases scheduled Wednesday will receive court notices with new dates to appear in court, Chmura said.

“It’s a lot of extra work. It doesn’t make things run as smoothly. We don’t like to deal with this, but we don’t have any choice,” he said.

With approximately 125 to 150 scheduled cases, Wednesdays are one of slowest days of the week at Macomb County’s busiest district court. The power outage did not interrupt judicial proceedings Wednesday at the Center Line division of the 37th District Court.

At police headquarters, computers were down but dispatch and 911 emergency lines were not impacted by the power outage.

At Small Wonders Early Learning Centers, the outage created day care difficulties for the families of 160 children. Owner Shirley Corkins said the absence of electricity forced her to close at 9 a.m. and phone the parents of approximately 90 kids to pick them up. Other adults who arrived to drop off children were turned away.

“We feel awful, just awful,” Corkins said. “I had a few say, ‘I’m going to be in so much trouble at work.”

She said some of her customers phoned from the General Motors Technical Center where they work to report power was out there, too.

Without electricity, Corkins said her staff was unable to heat up bottles of milk and formula for infants, and meals prepared in advance for toddlers.

She said power was restored at approximately noon – too late for the families she serves and 32 employees sent home early without a full day’s pay.

The Holiday Inn Hotels & Suites had no electricity but remained open. At the Residence Inn by Marriott, on Civic Center Boulevard, power returned around noon.

Phone service was out at National Coney Island, a popular lunchtime restaurant with workers from nearby businesses and government offices. Corkins, who said she is frustrated by today’s outage after meeting with DTE engineers after the last blackout, said the owner of the Coney Island told her that he had to close for the day.

Fouts is hopeful City Hall can remain open if DTE restores electricity by 2:30 p.m.

“This will be the last place to shut down. We have some employees who won’t be happy,” the mayor added. “I have some candles.”